Overall purse sees jump from last year\u2019s $15 million, with winner bagging $3.24m
\n AUGUSTA
\nThis year\u2019s Masters will pay the winner a record $3.24 million from a highest-ever $18 million prize money purse, Augusta National announced on Saturday.
\nBut if leader Brooks Koepka captures the green jacket, he still won\u2019t take home as much money as the $4 million he took by winning last week\u2019s 54-hole LIV Golf League event in Orlando.
\nThat\u2019s the crazy state of the sport at the first Masters since Saudi-backed LIV Golf launched last June, luring away several big names from the PGA Tour with record $25 million purses from 54-hole events.
\nAugusta\u2019s 2023 prize money payout \u2013 which offers $1.944 million for second place and $1.224 million for third \u2013 broke last year\u2019s overall purse of $15 million, from which top-ranked Scottie Scheffler took a record $2.7 million winner\u2019s prize.
\nHistoric by Masters standards, the $18 million pales to the $25 million LIV purses, which include $20 for individual competition and $5 million for a team event.
\nPrize money amounts for this year\u2019s other three majors aren\u2019t out yet but last year the US Open paid $17.5 million, the PGA Championship paid $15 million and the British Open paid $14 million.
\nThe $760,000 prize money difference from Orlando, should Koepka triumph at Augusta, might be more than made up for by the achievement of capturing a fifth career major title \u2013 which would leave him only a British Open Claret Jug from completing a career Grand Slam.
\n\u201cThe whole goal is to win the Grand Slam,\u201d Koepka said Friday. \u201cI feel like all the greats have won here and they have all won British Opens as well.
\n\u201cI guess it\u2019s one more box for me to tick to truly feel like I\u2019ve done what I should have accomplished in this game.\u201d
\nThen again, it can be just about showing the money. American Harold Varner made the profit motive clear this week when asked about the biggest benefit of his jump to LIV.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s the amount of money,\u201d Varner said. \u201cIt\u2019s generational. The way I grew up, it\u2019s important to me to take care of my family, and you can do it by just signing on the dotted line… I\u2019d do it again.\u201d
\nAgainst the LIV challenge, the PGA Tour has banned rebel players from its events and their legal battle is set to reach a courtroom early next year.
\nThe PGA has also made changes to its schedule to create \u2018enhanced events\u2019 with larger purses and fewer players.
\nThe majors have allowed LIV players to qualify, making them the showdown venues for the PGA-LIV rivalry.
\nFrom 18 LIV players who qualified for the Masters, 12 advanced to the last two rounds, two withdrew and four missed the cut, including major winners Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson and Bryson DeChambeau.
\nBehind Koepka, the next best LIV players were six-time major winner Phil Mickelson and Chile\u2019s Joaquin Niemann, both at 4-under and nine off the pace when play was halted until Sunday.
\nMickelson, a six-time major winner and three-time Masters champion, made a charge in his 30th Masters start.
\nThe 52-year-old US left-hander could break his own record as the oldest man to win a major from his 2021 PGA Championship triumph at age 50.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overall purse sees jump from last year\u2019s $15 million, with winner bagging $3.24m AUGUSTA This year\u2019s Masters will pay the winner a record $3.24 million from a highest-ever $18 million prize money purse, Augusta National announced on Saturday. But if leader Brooks Koepka captures the green jacket, he still won\u2019t take home as much money […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324970,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-324952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n